As I’ve posted before, Hubby and I LOVE roasted beets. We can’t get enough of them. But every once in awhile, I have to be ok with change. Our CSA is quickly showing us how great change is, with the recipes provided in every newsletter suggesting what to do with our vegetables.
Last night we scarfed up omelettes with CSA swiss chard (did you know that’s actually the leafy greens attached to beets?) and an abundance of herbs from our deck pots, plus beet pancakes – thanks for the recipe, Heather and Nate (our lovely CSA owners)! Here’s a picture that I found online that is more or less what we had. It looks like a dark red latke.
Tip #1: Make sure you brown the pancake fully so it cooks in the middle. Ours was deliciously crisp on the outside but a little gummy on the inside. I probably also mixed the flour in more than I tossed.
Tip #2: Don’t wear your work clothes while grating beets by hand. Especially if they are nice, white, and silk. “Honey? Can I have an apron please?” “I told you to change your clothes.” Meh.
Great idea, however messy! I messed up my CSA beets the other night and forgot to put water in the pan. And to cover them. They came out nice and charred (oops), but still great once hubby helped me peel the little chioggas.
You are right that chard and beets are related. And the red chard leaves will leave your hands and cutting board as red as the garden beetroot leaves do. In my garden, I eat the beet greens, and call them beet greens. They can be harvested small for salad but you risk hurting the developing beetroot. For the garden nerds, chard and beetroot are not exactly identical. They are both in the genus “Beta,” however, the small technicality is that beets are “Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. vulgaris” and chard is “Beta vulgaris var. cicla.” Or something like that.